Prep Boys Basketball: Hesperia Christian rally falls short in semis

WILDOMAR • Scott Dobyns had worries the night might turn out like this.

Entering an opponent's gym, the Hesperia Christian coach wondered how his team would fair shooting.

The first shots didn't fall. The last ones didn't either.

In between the Patriots dug themselves a 16-point hole before a late rally almost sent them to overtime.

The end result was a 53-50 loss to California Lutheran in the CIF-Southern Section Division 6 semifinals. It was the Patriots third semifinal loss in four years.

Hesperia Christian had a horrid shooting night, going 17-for-73 from the floor, 9-for-35 on 3-pointers and 7-for-15 on free throws.

"We put ourselves in too much of a hole in the first half," Dobyns said. "My fear was that we weren't going to shoot the ball well. I feel like we do all the little things. There's been times when we work so hard defensively and on the glass and then we just can't put the ball in the hole."

Cal Lutheran controlled the game from the start. The C-Hawks took a 7-0 lead to open the game before Hesperia Christian tied it 14-14 at the end of the first quarter. Then came the Patriots biggest struggles of the night in the second quarter. They scored just four points in the quarter, going 1-for-18 from the field, to go down 27-18 at halftime.

The Patriots had success working the ball inside and out throughout the playoffs, but not on Friday night. The presence of 6-foot-8 C-Hawks junior Ryan Smith was enough to derail the Patriots.

Smith had just two blocks but kept Hesperia Christian out of the paint all night.

"I think that being a big kid like he is, he was able to keep people out of the paint a little more, made them a little more leery about getting into the paint a little bit more," Cal Lutheran coach Dave Peter said. "Our guards did a good job of trying to protect him and stopping the drive themselves."

About the only thing working for the Patriots was Trevor Hough's outside shooting. Hough hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter to keep Hesperia Christian alive early. He finished the night with seven 3-pointers and a game-high 23 points.

Despite all of those struggles, the Patriots still had a shot to win or tie it at the end of the game. After going down 39-26 late in the third, Hesperia Christian started working it's way back in the game.

Ryan Henry hit two free throws with 19.7 seconds left in regulation to make it a three-point game.

Hesperia Christian fouled and the C-Hawks missed both free throws. The Patriots grabbed the rebound off the second missed free throw with about 17 seconds left and hurried up court.

Ryan Henry tried to drive into the lane and missed his shot, but the Pats got the offensive rebound. Hough got the ball outside but his shot went wide, but Hesperia Christian retained possession again. Eventually Eric O'Brien got the ball and he shot a potential-game tying 3-pointer with time running out, but the final shot of his high school career fell painfully short.

"I'm incredibly proud of their fight," Dobyns said. "A lot of teams would fold there. We have no fold in us. We fought. We had a shot to tie the game at the end when we didn't play well and that's all you ask for. That was just pure effort and hustle."